News / Teenager banned from road after police chase
A SEVENTEEN year old landed in hot water at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday after admitting driving at speeds of over 100mph during a police chase in March.
Thomas Day, of Nordavatn, Lerwick, was given a total of 115 hours of unpaid work and disqualified from driving for 16 months.
He previously pled guilty to driving dangerously between Blackhill in the town and Sundibanks, Scalloway on 7 March.
Day, who only had a provisional licence, drove the car without a qualified passenger or L plates and without insurance.
Police chased the speeding teenager out of town towards Scalloway, with Day travelling “in excess of 100mph” in weather blighted by high winds.
The car, which then had its headlights extinguished, later entered a ditch on a single track road at Sundibanks.
Defence agent Tommy Allan noted in court on Wednesday that, while his client’s “driving was atrocious, the reports were good”.
“Shortly before the incident, he was involved in a fairly upsetting family circumstance,” he added, suggesting that it may have sparked Day’s unruly behaviour.
Sheriff Philip Mann told the teen that he was “lucky he did not suffer any injuries in the accident that occurred” at the chase’s conclusion.
He disqualified Day for 16 months – backdated from an earlier court appearance on 11 June – and gave him a total of 115 hours of unpaid work to complete.
Meanwhile, a pipefitter from Dunoon has been given 180 hours of unpaid work and was placed under supervision for one year after violently struggling with police.
Paul Bonnar, of Park Road, Dunoon, was also fined £200 and disqualified for six months for driving without insurance.
Lerwick Sheriff Court previously heard that the 32 year old behaved like a “wild dog” during a drunken altercation with police on 10 May whilst he was on bail.
Bonnar drove from Scalloway to Lerwick before later being restrained by a number of police officers at the town’s Hill Lane car park. He bit an officer and spat at the group, also struggling violently with them.
The court heard on Wednesday that reports into Bonnar’s background were “quite positive”, with defence agent Tommy Allan stating that his client had “not touched drink since the incident”.
Sheriff Philip Mann alluded to the man’s duty to his family, and before giving his sentence, said that Bonnar seems “intelligent enough to take an opportunity given to him”.
Mann placed him under supervision for one year in addition to giving him 180 hours of unpaid work for the police struggle.
He also disqualified Bonnar for six months and fined him £200 for driving without insurance.
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